


sweet sacrifice

by tostitos



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Demon Summoning, Denial, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gluttony, Humor, M/M, Multi, Werewolves, Witches, but not really cuz it's not funny, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-10-19 02:04:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20649404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tostitos/pseuds/tostitos
Summary: It was, like everything else since Kihyun decided to befriend a dumb dog, Minhyuk's fault.





	sweet sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> i'm SO sorry
> 
> um, for the prompt that was like: person A accidentally summons a demon and doesn't want to send them back but also the demon is a cute patoot 
> 
> or something like that.

kihyun glances down at the thick book of aged pages and accumulated dust laid out on the table in front of him for a half a second, at the man hovering across from him for less than that, and then back down at the candle he's been carving.

"no," he says, sliding the small knife through the wax with practiced ease. a loose ribbon of red falls to the table and with a wrinkle of kihyun's nose, it slides off the table and into the wastebasket, already holding a pile of wax ribbons, waiting there. "return it."

the man across from him makes to open his mouth and immediately winces, forgetting the translucent, virtually nonexistent, thread sewn through his lips that tightens whenever he tries to speak. he sighs through his nose and shoves his hands into the space between him and kihyun. 

sucking in a breath himself, kihyun glances up again to humor his companion as he speaks in silent-tongue through his hands.

“i know you can undo this hex.”

kihyun tilts his head to the side and waves the hand holding the carving knife in a loose circle. “i would never risk your safety trying to undo a hex i didn’t cast, minhyuk,” he says, making sure to add a little remorse to his voice to hide the fact that he’s lying and completely capable of reversing the hex at no risk to minhyuk.

he’s experienced eighty percent less headaches since minhyuk apparently pissed off some gonemajick he came across and had his mouth sealed as a consequence. undoing the hex and subjecting himself to the endless white noise of his coworker’s (and, at times, …friend) speech sounds rather unsympathetic to kihyun’s senses.

and who is kihyun to value anyone else’s comfort over his own? minhyuk is fluent in silent-tongue and it’s not as if he has no proper way of communicating so, really, kihyun has no idea why he’s complaining.

none the wiser, minhyuk visibly deflates. (it works in kihyun’s favor that he _is_ still technically an apprentice, no matter how his high his magical aptitude is for his age). still, minhyuk taps the book before raising his hands again.

“we’ve been selling nothing but anointed candles, amulets, and good luck charms,” says minhyuk. “don’t you think we need something else to spice up the store?”

kihyun blinks slowly, hardly lifts his lids more than half mast. “no.”

there’s a reason sales are low. it’s not safe for witches to be overt, just like it isn’t safe for minhyuk to reveal that he eats his own ass every full moon. there aren’t many witches in this area, not ones who aren’t gonemajicks who refuse to pass on to the afterlife anyway. sure it’d be nice to have more customers who aren’t new age ‘witches’ who wouldn’t be able to cast a spell if it weren’t for kihyun’s wares, but there’s nothing to be done about that.

and there’s definitely nothing that would be able to help in the book minhyuk has dug up from the back of the always locked display case holding the books of blackcraft.

if minhyuk’s mouth wasn’t sealed, kihyun is sure his ears would be ringing with the piercing shrill of minhyuk’s whining. “but kihyun—“

kihyun looks up from minhyuk’s hands to his eyes, cutting him off. “a majority of our customers are _human_, in case you’ve forgotten. and you want me to mess around with blackcraft to spice up the store and potentially let someone hurt themselves or someone else?”

there’s something in minhyuk’s cinnamon eyes that says ‘yes, that is what i want. maybe not in those words, but yes. fun and excitement. woof’ but he at least has enough sense to not sign it out.

still, he’s stupid enough to ask ‘can we try it at your place?’

kihyun wonders if there’s a spell that blocks function of one’s limbs. even in silent-tongue, minhyuk is annoying. “put the book back or i’ll make sure you never bark again.”

sighing through his nose, minhyuk picks up the book and turns away from the front counter. when he disappears past the rows of shelves holding spell books both completely fictional and half true, kihyun shakes his head and picks up his candle to resume carving. 

  
kihyun trusts minhyuk absolutely none, which is why minhyuk never quite understood why kihyun taught him the basics of spell casting. but there is nothing to complain about when minhyuk is sitting on the backyard veranda of his family’s estate underneath the eyes of only the moon and the stars. an encircled pentagram is drawn out in red yarn he borrowed from his grandmother and five red votive candle sit at each point of the star. the store only had scented, so he hopes demons don’t mind the fruity scent of strawberry.

thick, blackcraft book in his lap, minhyuk plucks out an apple and cheese macaron from the tray by his knee and gracefully shoves the entire thing in his mouth. he reads over the spell for demon summoning again, humming each time he mentally checks off all the requirements in section about preparation. 

at the bottom of the list is a sentence flagged with a star, probably something that he should have read first because he’s definitely not prepared for it now.

_★ all demonic callings require an offering in the form of a sacrifice_

‘well, fuck,’ thinks minhyuk, because his mouth only opens for food. it would have been nice to know this _before_ he gave the rabbit he caught to his pack for dinner tonight. he _could_ give up on this tonight and try again another day, but he’s already set this up and he’s lazy. 

eyeing the pack of macarons he’s been snacking on while setting up, he shrugs and tosses it into the center of the pentagram. he’s sacrificing the desires of his sweet tooth for this demon and that should be enough. if not…well then demons are greedy. beggars can’t be choosers when they’re allowed a get out of hell free card.

looking back down at the book, minhyuk releases that all that’s left is the spoken spell itself. it’s written in latin, but spell casting has evolved to be more modern according to kihyun so he types the spell into google translate and signs the translation out in silent-tongue. 

it’d be a complete lie if he claims to not be surprised that _something_ is working when he yarn glows a dim red. but there’s no smoke, no fire, no big explosion. minhyuk simply blinks once and the macarons are gone and the yarn is just as dull as it was before.

he looks down at the spell book and sniffs. well, he can’t exactly complain about how it didn’t work when he cut corners on the spell, but he _can_ complain about his macarons being stolen.

mentally grumbling the entire time, he cleans up everything he used to the spell and carries it all back to his room in the far left area of the compound where his immediate family stays. he tosses the book and the yarn and the box of candles onto the bed left empty by his brother who married into another pack, and shuffles over to his closet. 

pulling off his shirt, he balls it up and tosses it into the laundry basket outside the open closet doors. he reaches for his pants next, shoving them down past his hips. they catch on his briefs that gets dragged down along with them and he pays no attention to the cold air on his behind until he hears a gasp from behind him.

whirling around, pants hanging halfway off his butt, minhyuk faces a gangly, shadowed figure sitting on his bed. this isn’t appropriate at all, considering there was no one in his room just a second ago and this person definitely does not smell like pack, but his eyes lock on the tray of macarons clutched in the hand of the figure that isn’t covering their eyes. 

he opens his mouth, only for a squeak of pain to leave his throat as the hex activates again. 

the fingers of the hand covering the stranger’s eyes part as they peek through. “a-are you okay?”

pressing his lips together, minhyuk stares at the stranger. his vision in the dark isn’t as great when he’s in this body rather than in his wolf’s, but he can still make out the horns that poke out from the stranger’s head and the grand wings that are curled around their body.

a demon.

he _really_ summoned the demon.

they’re not as…threatening as he imagined but he did it!

the demon makes a noise when minhyuk doesn’t answer. “oh…” they say after a moment. “you had a run in with a witch. you poor puppy.”

and the demon doesn’t move, but minhyuk feels the threads preventing him from speaking loosen and disappear. 

in his surprise, he raises his hands to touch his lips. “what the—“ and without anything to hold them up, his pants fall to the floor.

the demon throws the tray of macarons at him. 

  
kihyun trusts minhyuk absolutely none, which is why he's not exactly surprised to feel the wards protecting his go crazy with the presence of black magick one day after minhyuk texts him and tells him he has a surprise for kihyun. the urgency of his wards is coming from the back entrance, and he’s thankful minhyuk has at least that much sense because there is a human woman wandering the shop and he doesn’t know if he’d be able to cast a glamour over whatever the hell minhyuk has done so she doesn’t see something she shouldn’t.

with a short spell spoken under his breath, kihyun puts up the strongest guard he can cast, hoping that it’s enough to keep minhyuk out until she leaves and he can close the shop. the spell doesn’t make him any more comfortable, the wards around the shop still screaming and the protection amulet hanging between his collarbones warm against his skin. he’s not afraid despite everything – if minhyuk’s life was in danger because of whatever this ‘surprise’ is, then he’d be dead already and not here to show off; wolves tend to have little understanding of how to read the atmosphere and minhyuk is no different than his peers – but annoyance does run hot through his veins.

leaving the front of the store, kihyun weaves through the aisles until he reaches the display case for the blackcraft spellbooks and charms. 

“of course,” he mumbles to himself. of _course_ the spell book minhyuk brought to him the other day is gone, of _fucking course_. 

closing his eyes, he sucks in a deep breath and attempts to quell the fire that billows within him. he’d never abuse an animal, but thankfully minhyuk is just an idiot with a dog’s brain.

he runs a hand through his hair. “i’m going to kill him.”

returning to the front, kihyun finds the only customer in the store waiting at the counter and he quickly slips behind it to ring up the stones of amethyst and opal she’s picked up. she thanks him with a smile, complements him on how beautiful and authentic his shop seems, and then goes on her way.

he waits a moment for her to get a comfortable distance away before he rushes to switch the open sign to closed. he drops the guard around the store, covers it in glamour so no sees anything out of the ordinary, and stomps to the back of the store.

the back door slams open just as he approaches it and kihyun doesn’t even have a chance to prematurely scold minhyuk as his eyes immediately land on the demon lingering behind the wolf, standing tall with eyes of pure black and short red horns sticking up from within…pink hair.

kihyun hisses, reaching out to grab minhyuk’s wrist and tug him inside the shop. “what have you _done_, you absolute _dickhead_.”

“i summoned a demon!” minhyuk answers, much too proud of himself.

kihyun glances at the demon. “don’t just stand there, _come in_.” he scowls. “i don’t need anyone to come into the alleyway back here and see you.”

“i would…but the wards set up around here are a little itchy.”

groaning at his misfortune, kihyun has no choice but to drop the wards completely. he could configure them to allow just this demon in, but he hasn’t the time for that, nor does he want to expend the magickal energy for that when he’s hoping to send this demon back to hell.

the demon blinks after the wards are down, the completely black sclera of their eye fading until its white and candied sugar pink irises shine through. they pass the threshold of the shop, their horns retracting as soon as they do until they’re no longer visible past their hair. 

like this they look like some romance anime boy come to life and not at all like a fearful creature from the depths of hell. 

“um…” the demon mumbles, looking around the storage room they’re in. “do you have any candy? i’m kind of hungry.”

  
minhyuk watches the demon suck on a green apple lollipop, the candy turning their full lips a weird green color. for a creature from hell, they’re definitely far from being scary with pink hair to match their eyes, full marshmallow cheeks and lips, and a very noticeable sweet tooth. 

behind him, kihyun paces back and forth mumbling to himself. he’s loud enough for minhyuk to hear, but minhyuk has mastered the spell of ignoring kihyun long ago.

“so…” minhyuk starts, leaning up against the counter that the demon is sitting on. the demon looks at him curiously, blinking their huge, buggish eyes. “are you really a demon? do you have a name? can you breathe fire? what’s up with you and candy like i’m still not over how you ate all of my macarons last night after you pelted me with them. do you know satan? does satan even _exist_? are you evil? can you possess people? are you going to destroy the –“

minhyuk feels the same thread that tied his lips together draw his mouth closed again and he turns around to see kihyun with his eyes clenched shut and his fingers rubbing at his temples. he waits until the witch looks up to raise his hands accusingly.

“i knew you could undo the hex!” he says in silent-tongue.

kihyun waves a hand, glaring. “yeah, whatever, shut up. i’m trying to figure out how to get this demon back to hell and you’re giving me a headache.”

“you two have a very dysfunctional relationship for a couple.”

minhyuk grimaces and kihyun recoils at the demon’s words. they’re not wrong but they’re also not right.

“anyway,” the demon continues, not paying much attention to their reaction as they bite down on the candy in their mouth. “i am really a demon, from the house of gluttony if that wasn’t obvious. i’m a demon, not a dragon. yes, he exists. contrary to popular belief, not everyone who resides in hell is malicious. and my name is hyungwon. it’s nice to meet you.”

he looks at minhyuk as if to silently ask if the wolf has anymore questions, removing the hex kihyun cast just as easily as he did last night.

minhyuk glances at kihyun. “cool. i summoned a demon who’s addicted to sweets.” he smirks. “i bet you’ve never done anything as great as that.”

kihyun’s eyes narrow. “i can, and will, turn you into slime.”

shrugging, minhyuk grins. “that’s okay.” he turns to the demon and slings an arm around their waist. “hyungwonnie here will just turn me back into the handsome wolf that i am.”

to their surprise, hyungwon laughs, a bright, wheezing sound. both minhyuk and kihyun look at him with wide eyes and parted mouths. 

minhyuk can admit they’re kind of cute; kihyun refuses to.

  
that night finds kihyun sitting in the middle of his living room with ten different spell books, both of normal and black origins, scattered around him. hyolyn, his supervising witch, is usually off doing her own thing and leaving him to his own studies, but she never allowed him to dabble in the actual practice of blackcraft. that’s not to say he _hasn’t_, but nothing as big as demon calling. 

he doesn’t even understand how minhyuk was able to do so. it’s not a particularly difficult spell, but minhyuk has very little magickal aptitude, was silenced by silent-tongue, and he doesn’t know the latin required to pull off blackcraft spells. kihyun wants to have enough faith in his fellow witches that they didn’t allow blackcraft spells to be casted in modern languages like they did for ordinary magick. 

with a sigh, he shuts the spell book in his hands after finding nothing on how to return a demon to hell. in ancient times, witches would do banishings but those often caused harm to the witch in the process and were typically done on demons that were possessing humans. kihyun’s not sure if it’d work on hyungwon and he doesn’t want to kill himself trying. 

“god, minhyuk what have you gotten us into?”

the amulet around his neck heats up and kihyun rips it off as he turns around. 

hyungwon hovers behind him, a little shocked at the sudden attention if the way they take a step back is any indication. 

“can you make _some_ kind of noise when you move? you’re going to give me a heart attack,” kihyun hisses, glaring at the demon.

curling in on themself, hyungwon takes another step back. they bite into their lip and grip their arm, rubbing at it nervously. “…sorry,” they mumble. “i didn’t mean to scare you.”

running a hand through his hair, kihyun hates how the sad expression on the demon’s face makes him feel bad. they’re a _demon_ for hell’s sake; he shouldn’t be pitying them. he sighs. “it’s fine. what do you want?”  
hyungwon clears their throat. “you’ve been going through those books for a while and i thought you’d be hungry so…i made food.”

kihyun stares at the demon who shuffles awkwardly under the look. 

they’re really not scary at all.

“you can cook?”

shrugging, hyungwon smiles shyly. 

the way their sharpened teeth poke out from between their lips is definitely not kind of adorable. 

“i’m a glutton for food,” they say. “of course i can cook.”

it was a mutual agreement for hyungwon to stay with kihyun in the apartment he rents out above his shop considering minhyuk lives with his pack and no one thinks the other wolves would take kindly to a demon staying on their land for an undetermined amount of time. not to mention, kihyun doesn’t trust minhyuk to not get into trouble, no matter how amicable hyungwon seems to be. 

kihyun was kind of dreading it. he has the same wards set up around his apartment as he does around his shop and it makes his hair stand up to think of living without them just so hyungwon can come in. but since minhyuk returned to his pack and left kihyun with the demon, hyungwon has been quite...nice as a companion. 

they busied themself with exploring the tiny apartment and became fast friends with kihyun’s pet hamster rather quick for how animals tend to be wary of anything that isn’t human. hammie still actually doesn’t like minhyuk and he and minhyuk have been together for a year longer than he’s had the hamster.

when kihyun leaves his spell books to follow the demon into the kitchen, he’s surprised to see something other than a bag of sugar waiting for him. hyungwon actually made the chicken that kihyun had marinated before he opened the shop that morning and turned on the rice cooker.

“oh.” he blurts out. “you really made this…for me?”

pleased that kihyun seems to be pleased, hyungwon hums happily and finds a pair of chopsticks, apparently already well acquainted with kihyun’s kitchen. they take out a spoon as well, and drop it into a bowl that kihyun realizes is full of the sugary cereal jooheon gifted him after his most recent trip abroad. 

placing the chopsticks on the side of the plate, hyungwon carries it to kihyun who takes it.

kihyun looks down at the perfectly cooked chicken and then back up at the demon whose pink eyes disappear with the force of their pointy smile.

“um…” he hesitates, feeling an odd rush of warmth at his chest that travels up into his face. “thanks.”

“no problem!” the demon giggles and turns around to fetch their bowl of cereal.

they eat in the living room, sitting next to each other on the couch. kihyun turns on the television and leaves it on a historical drama that’s he’s seen a few episodes of but that he doesn’t really care about. tonight, too, he finds himself distracted by other things while it’s on, his eyes not on his phone for once, but the demon with annoyingly big eyes and milk moistened lips pressed against the spoon between them.

that night, after dinner, he cleans up the spell books that contained nothing on how to send a demon back and teaches hyungwon how to blend in with human society, constantly repeating that this is only until he can find the right spell.

hyungwon replies that they know every time. 

kihyun isn’t quite sure if _he_ knows.

  
“hyungwonnie!” minhyuk barges into the shop a week after the summoning.

the demon looks up from the book on witches and familiars they picked up from somewhere in the shop and over at the door. they sit up with a wide grin and wave at the wolf. “hi, minhyuk.”

minhyuk runs over to the counter where the demon is sitting cross-legged as always. “i missed you.” he pouts. “it’s not fair that kihyun gets to keep you all to himself and i only can see you at work even though i’m the one that summoned you.”

“hey, kibbles and bits for brains, stop flattering them and get to work,” kihyun says plainly from where he’s carving candles. 

minhyuk sticks his tongue out at kihyun who wordlessly mouths a spell and ties it into a knot. 

the wolf babbles, annoyed, and hyungwon laughs and undoes the spell as he always does.

“you know, minhyuk, you could always stay here too.”

hissing, kihyun throws the candle at hyungwon who catches it easily without needing to turn to look at it.

minhyuk looks at kihyun with raised brows and an amused smirk. “that’s a great idea, hyungwon.”

“no.” kihyun narrows his eyes. 

“why not?” hyungwon asks, pouting. he settles a hand on minhyuk’s head and scratches his head as if he’s an ordinary dog. 

minhyuk’s look of mischief only grows. “yeah, kihyunnie. why not?”

  
and that’s how kihyun finds himself sharing his bed with his not-boyfriend. 

  
“what’s up with all of the books? i don’t remember you keeping this many in your room the last time i stayed the night,” minhyuk comments as he moves the spellbooks from where kihyun left them on the unused side of his bed to the top of his dresser. 

kihyun looks at him like he’s stupid. “i have to find the spell to send hyungwon back, remember?”

minhyuk drops the books heavily. “oh.” he turns to look at kihyun who is taking off his various charms and amulets. “you’re still looking for that.”

pulling off one of his rings, kihyun stares at the crystal embedded in it. “well, of course. we can’t just let a demon roam around up here.”

there isn’t really anything that says he can’t, but it’s the principle of the matter. hyungwon might not be a danger to anyone, but neither of them know if there’s repercussions for dragging a demon out of hell. not to mention, they live in too close of a proximity of humans. it _can’t_ be known that there’s magickal and supernatural creatures around, let alone one from hell.

“can’t we?” minhyuk asks. kihyun doesn’t need to look at him to know that he’s frowning.

sighing, kihyun turns around to face the wolf. “min…”

“why’s the atmosphere so cold in here?”

kihyun and minhyuk flinch, the both of them turning to see hyungwon sitting in the center of kihyun’s bed. 

they have a chocolate chip cookie pinched between their fingers and they nibble on it as they look between the witch and the wolf.

“uhhh,” minhyuk hesitates as kihyun mumbles out, ‘it’s nothing.”

hyungwon narrows their eyes at them, but nothing they do is intimidating. 

kihyun glances at minhyuk who gives him a look that says they’ll talk later and he sighs as he finishes taking off his jewelry.

also getting ready for bed, minhyuk lifts his shirt over his head. kihyun looks at hyungwon, knowing how shy they are about nudity and hates the fondness he feels swell in his gut when he catches the faint blush on the demon’s face as they stare pointedly at their lap.

minhyuk also notices, laughing at he tosses his shirt at hyungwon. 

it lands on their face, and the demon splutters as they rip it off with an annoyed glare, only to yelp and hold it up when their eyes land on minhyuk’s naked chest.

“i was hoping i could stay and cuddle, but i think i’ll go and sleep in the living room instead,” the demon says in a rush, slipping off the bed. “good night.”

kihyun puts up a quick ward around the rest of the apartment, knowing hyungwon doesn’t like the way the wards make their skin feel. “stay,” he says, quietly. 

minhyuk nods. “i need someone to pet me in order to fall asleep. you know…” he shrugs. “puppy’s needs and all.”

“…that sounds like a lie.” hyungwon plays with their fingers, still refusing to look up at minhyuk. 

they squeak when minhyuk walks closer and bends to rest his head on their chest.

“it’s not.”

hyungwon gingerly lifts a hand and places it on minhyuk’s head. minhyuk lets a little bit of his wolf out and gives a small howl. softening, hyungwon drags his fingers through his hair.

from across the room, kihyun watches the exchange and he knows. 

he knows what’s going on here just like he knows what’s been going on between him and minhyuk no matter how much either of them deny it.

he knows that he hasn’t looked at those spellbooks since the first night.

he knows he couldn’t send hyungwon even if he wanted to.

  
“excuse me,” a teenage human woman calls, clearing her throat as she tries to grab the attention of the person she’s not sure is a new employee or not but they’ve been in here every time she can remember for the last two months.

they turn around with a mouth parted in surprise and blink curious, pink eyes at her. “oh, hello!”

a blush colors her cheeks at their beauty. “o-oh, i, um, had a question about these protection candles.”

the pretty person blinks at her for a moment before turning over their shoulder. “babe!”

thundering footsteps are heard and then minhyuk, the employee she recognizes slides into the aisle. “yes, strawberry?”

‘strawberry’ shakes their head. “sorry, not you.”

minhyuk deflates and crosses his arms over his chest. “what do you mean ‘not me’,” he grumbles. “what can kihyun do that i can’t?”

“everything.”

the girl turns around to see the owner of the shop walking into the aisle from the other side, looking everything like the stereotypical witch she sees in movies. she always thought his costume was a little heavy-handed, but his shop really is the best in town so she can’t judge too much.

“how can i help you?” kihyun says, smiling at her even as he waves away minhyuk who stomps toward the front of the shop with a huff.

“i have a question about the protection candles,” she answers.

“of course.” kihyun turns his attention to ‘strawberry’. “sugar, can you go comfort the baby out there?”

perking up, the pink-eyed stranger laughs. “i don’t know. i made him upset. he’ll only complain at me.”

“it’s okay. i know a spell that’ll shut him up.” kihyun looks at the woman again as ‘strawberry sugar’ leaves to follow minhyuk. “so those candles…”


End file.
